a spiderweb and it's me in the middle

Well, it's done. Sort of. By 'sort of', I mean 'I really don't like the cord I threaded through the scallops, and I still think it'd be better with a button closure, but I wore it anyway.' I wore it, if only for the length of the ceremony and five minutes afterward, because more than that was going to be nothing less than madness.

Details? Why, certainly!

Pattern: Cobweb from Rowan #40
Size: The 36" size. I could have made the 34", and it would probably have fit more like the one on the model, but it's cool. I like how this one fits.
Yarn: Elann Baby Silk in Salmon - it took a little more than eight balls, so probably about 900 yards.
Beads: Don't know exactly, acrylic beads I bought at Just Bead It, the local bead shop. I used half as many as the pattern called for, because I only did the dark beads.

What I Did: Not so much different than the Rowan pattern, really. Well, except that I left out the crochet flowers, did away with half the beads, ran a scallopy border around the whole body and made it in an affordable yarn that bears only a passing resemblance to Kidsilk Haze.

Baby Silk has almost no halo, isn't mohair, isn't airy, and is about a third as expensive as Kidsilk. It might seem like a strange substitute. I chose to use Baby Silk because I had it in my stash, and I'm trying to at least make a tiny dent in it this year. The good news is that it has fantastic stitch definition, even after rolling around with me for weeks while I knit with it. This worked out perfectly, as I needed the purl stitches to stand out in the bead section. I love this yarn. So soft, so easy to work with, such a lovely drape.

What's the bad news? Remember, I'm trying to reduce the stash. I started with twenty-five balls of this stuff. I've still got more than sixteen of them. And another twenty-five in seashell pink. Yeah, I had a shopping problem for a while there. I think I was thinking of making the Vintage Pink Cardigan from Interweave Knits Spring 2005, and then I chickened out when I saw the gauge. Back then, if I couldn't knit something at four stitches to the inch or bigger, I deemed it impossible. I've still got enough of it. Maybe we'll see Vintage Pink happening in the next few months.

The pattern is well written, and I didn't change a thing about the basic construction. I only veered off on the finishing details. Easy to read, easy to follow, a real joy to knit.

If I make another one, I'll:
--Eliminate the beads, or run them along with a carryalong thread. For me, it's too much of a pain in the ass to deal with all of those beads, and I'd be doing it for the back and both fronts at the same time because...
--Knit the fronts and the sides in one piece so that the columns of beads wouldn't be broken by the seam. Maybe that wouldn't matter so much if the sweater were done in Kidsilk Haze because the seams would be obscured. Nobody else notices, but that misalignment really stands out when I look at it.
--Different border. I like the scallops on this one, but I think I'd want something less ruffly if I did it again.

Will I Wear It: You bet! Now that the wedding's over, I don't feel the need to protect it from harm. Not that I'm going to beat it against a rock or anything, but I'm not going to shy away from reaching for it on a chilly evening in the yard. In a strange and fortunate twist, it matches a lot of what's in style this season. I plan to get a lot of wear out of it.


"I like this shot. It looks like a pose from one of those magazines." --Accountant Boy